Love bird garden fountain
The countdown to the Spring Garden Tour  (Virtual) has begun and I must admit, I have caught a bad case of Spring Fever!



I'm so looking forward to seeing your garden photos and adding them to the upcoming tour.  Please forward them to me, if you haven't already. (your-nest@hotmail.com)
 Everyone is invited to participate - you don't need an invitation - just a camera and a garden or outdoor living space.  I will be contacting a few of you to come take photos, as well! 


While I am on the subject of gardens, I thought I'd share some of my own inspiration this year.  In April I attended the spring garden show at South Coast here in Southern California - here are a few things that caught my eye there:





succulent wreath
Succulents were everywhere! 





pansy style geraniums
I always have to take home a new geranium plant or two...





new supertunia
This supertunia in purple and green came home with us, too...





purple and brown orchids
the orchids always blow me away with their color and variety





south coast garden show orchid display
but I decided NOT to kill any this year by bringing them home...





cottage garden planter
I now know what to do with my european baby bath - identical to this one - sitting empty in my garden.  Turn it into a planter!



pottery barn window display
Especially inspiring was this Pottery Barn window display.  Love the old ladder used to hang lanterns.  Imagine the variety of lanterns you could use, and where you could hang them - from a tree, a patio cover, or over a barbecue - where I will use this idea!




Memorial weekend found us on a road trip to a family reunion in the Salt Lake area of Utah.  I picked up some fresh spring garden ideas there, as well.  Most memorable was the huge variety of shrubs and greenery - many flowers were also in bloom - viburnum of the 'snowball' variety were everywhere and nearly every home seemed to have a variety of bearded iris..

We took Bailey with us - she loves to go for rides in the car, although this 'ride' was a lot longer than most...





bailey, the leonberger


We had a beautiful trip up, with no traffic and great weather (just a little rain) although we heard it had snowed in the valley just a couple of days before. 






leaving california





raindrops keep falling...





storm clouds in salt lake city


While in Salt Lake, we found a little time to explore and found a great shop at 678 So. 700 E. called Ward and Child - a garden decor store with a beautiful garden in the back of the shop that I will wait for the garden tour to share.... but the inside....






ward and child garden store gnomes
great garden accents...
(don't ya just love the gnomes!)





ward and child statuary and urns
beautiful urns





ward and child statuary
statuary





ward and child in salt lake city, utah
and just my kind of shop inside - what is it about garden decor that makes me want to curl up and live there?



second hand chic junk shop
We also scouted for treasures at some Salt Lake antique and junk shops





emiliejayne vintage and new





cummings chocolates
and had to make a stop here for my DH - the chocoholic!


We spent two great days with family





reunion banner at murray park





3 legged race
including my beautiful 93 year old mom!





afton - 93 years young
and then headed for home ...





early morning cloud bank in provo, utah
after an Einstein Bagel breakfast with our son who is attending college in Utah





einstein bagels
and some shopping....





james at nordstroms
which means posing with funny hats and sunglasses



brett - gq pose





miami vice jacket
and trying on Miami Vice style jackets....
just for laughs


The ride home was long, but beautiful
 



st. george, utah





las vegas at sunset
 




nevada desert


See you soon!


Claudine

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